Faculty of Religious and Oriental Sciences

Bachelor of Arts in Religious and Pastoral Education

Hybrid

Mission

Specialization in Religious and Pastoral Education introduces students to the realities of living faith, transmission of the Christian tradition and the maturing of religion and its pastoral at all stages of life.
It is of interest to both secular and religious persons eager to gain a thorough training in pastoral and religious knowledge.

Program Educational Objectives

1. Graduates will be active in pastoral services in dioceses, parishes and religious movements (youth chaplaincy, hospitals, prisons, etc.).
2. Teaching catechesis in... schools and universities.
3. Educators and trainers in educational institutions and centers for the moral and spiritual formation of society.
4. Researchers in the areas of training.
5. Enactment of liturgical celebrations in many Christian communities (Mass in East and sacramental theology and liturgy)

Program Outcomes

a. Students will acquire a first university degree in the field of pastoral intervention.
b. Demonstrate a clear understanding of the features of contemporary culture that influence the various practices of faith education.
c. Know how to use the Bible with relevance in the perspective of faith education (introduction to the Bible).
d. Analyze and handle a religious text from the Church's teaching (evangelization and catechesis).
e. Exercise practical and pastoral work in the ecclesiastical domain (pastoral and practical theology).
f. Strengthen their trainer skills.
g. Refine the observational capabilities of a pastoral practice and identify key issues.
h. Deepen the spiritual dimension of life.
i. Exercise a role of responsibility or intervention in relation to the transmission of the Christian tradition and maturation of faith (faith education, pedagogy and catechetical action).
j. Provide a spiritual accompaniment and vocations.
k. Energize group dynamics and leadership work (work with a group and make a group work).

Faith is the unifying and building agent of the Christian person and the Church. Thus, the believer finds growth or even the realization of his being in God his Creator and Savior. In addition, the Church, the Mystical Body of Jesus, by its experience of communion among its different members, is the "mother" feeding her children so they reach out to Christ. This course presents the main ideas of the Christian faith that contribute to the development of the students believing identity and their participation in the ecclesial community.

The world has become a "small village" open to any type of belief or culture. Therefore, no one can pretend to live in an "island". The encounter with the "other", now becoming daily, requires some preparation in order to spare ourselves unnecessary conflict. This course presents the main ideas of the existing religions and culture in our environment; with a practical introduction to interfaith and cultural dialogue.

The course is presented through a liturgical, historical and theological perspective. The first part considers the historical and liturgical development of the parts of the Mass, through the various Eastern liturgies, and distinguishes between the Antiochian and the Alexandrian structure. The main parts of the Mass will be detailed. A major importance will be given to the anaphora.

The aim of this course is to explain the processes of personality construction through a progressive self­discovery. A multi­ axial approach to the different dimensions of personality; its evolution and the interaction with the environment, will be addressed. This will provide: a general overview of the concept of personality and its dynamic aspect from birth until old age. Affective and social aspects in the relationship of the self to the world and, finally, “normal” vs. “pathological” personality development.

This course will provide 1st year students in Humanities with essential methods for the preparation of their work during the years of study at the University. These methods are common to all material and address different levels, ranging from exercises promoting correct educational attitudes in the introduction to the methods of work, the investigation of a text, and finally, to the mastery of speech essential to establish one Exchange with others, orally and in writing, and to assert with confidence and autonomy. In addition, the objectives of this course will address data essential for the design, drafting and the realization of research work.

God has always made himself known by his action and speech. His Messengers, ever since, continue to carry his message through the means of information and communication at different times and with civilizations.
In this regard, the pastoral actor and researcher in this field are introduced to the use of ICT’s language in the exercise of the announcement of the Good News.

This course consists of three distinct parts, namely: the treatise of creation, the treatise of original sin and the treatise of grace. It aims to explain the content of the Christian doctrine of creation of the human being in God's image, with different biblical positions in opposition to scientific theories of origins. Then, the course examines the doctrine of original sin and attempts to formulate the problem of evil by explaining the impact of sin on the situation of the human being. After a brief overview on the scriptural doctrine of the original sin, we cover the Augustinian doctrine of the original sin, by reviewing ecclesial decisions and scholastic theology. At the end of the course, we tackle the theme of grace in order to better grasp the significance of salvation that culminates in the incarnation of Christ and the meaning of the human being’s life as a creature totally open to Him, and this in communion with all creatures.

Given the diversity of Churches, the Middle East and particularly Lebanon, are places where the ecclesiology is learned and witnessed in the everyday relations between Christians of different affiliations.
This course provides the pastor, the catechist and pastoral researcher the opportunity to observe and analyze the complexity of the relationship between ecclesiological “statements” and “experiences” of the Christian faith in everyday life, when believers come from several church traditions.

If evangelization was the primary proclamation of the Gospel, the task of catechesis would be to deepen the meaning and nuances of the message originally sent by evangelization.
It is the exercise to which this course refers to: the actor and the pastoral researcher learn how to relay evangelization, taking into account the ecclesial, socio-cultural and other.

This Fundamental Moral Theology course deals with the Christian action in a rational process, while relying on the Holy Scripture, and placing Tradition, Magisterium and human sciences within a contemporary situation scenario.
The course will particularly address: Biblical perspectives of moral theology, its creative evolution and fundamental principles, such as freedom, responsibility, will, the good and the bad in the act, conscience, law, sin, conversion, salvation and revelation, theological and human virtues, bliss as the end of all Christian actions.
Following a careful reading of the Veritatis Splendor encyclical and the document of the International Theological Commission on the natural law, we will present some new perspectives for moral thoughts, illustrated and enlightened by two concrete examples.

The course focuses on theoretical models of the functioning and management of groups, as well as on notions of inter­ group communication and its application on different levels: group, family, individual and organizational. Students will be required to participate in a group dynamics session and write a summary report of their personal experience within the group.

Internship follow-ups are provided for school catechesis and other types of pastoral actions.
Courses in the form of workshops are offered according to the needs of students and researchers in the catechetical and pastoral field.

The management of communities and teams is a knowledge and know-how essential to any leader in this area. Added to those are other requirements when it comes to management in the Church: requirements related to the nature and mission of the latter; also in relation with "Patron" of this management, which is the Holy Spirit.
In this course, the pastoral actor and researcher are introduced to the discernment of the management gift, a gift called "leadership", "animation" or "management" and are introduced to the success of this task in the exercise of their Christian mission.

From the Renaissance Church (16th century) to Vatican II (1962-1965)
This course covers five centuries, from the Renaissance Church (16th century) to Vatican II (1962-1965), and includes two parts: the first part focuses on the Renaissance in addition to the Protestant and Catholic reforms; the second part tackles the 19th and 20th century, the era of revolutions and adaptations. Luther's revolt in the 16th century and the 1789 Revolution are main events for society and the Church. What had paved the way for them? Who are the main actors and what are their motivations? What were the challenges facing the Church in all fields, both doctrinal and pastoral, life of the clergy and involvement of the lay persons? A council marks each studied period: the Council of Trent and the Second Vatican Council. We examine how each of them blends tradition and adaptation, their development, their key documents, their receipt, their actors and especially the Popes from John XXIII to John Paul II. This course helps students learn to "read the signs of the times" through world events, in the middle of which the People of God live and to whom He was sent.

This course helps various pastoral actors and researchers make an analytical and critical theological reading of the relationship between the Christian faith and the modern world. This thinking is mainly based on texts of the Second Vatican Council.

This course is an introduction to pastoral and practical theology. If theology was the Christian faith in search of its intelligence, the theological disciplines that offer theology students the keys to the broad “Science of God” and to its salvation in the world would be numerous and various. Practical (and pastoral) theology is one of these disciplines, but with the distinction of being more oriented towards the Christian praxis which brings together the different aspects of the Christian faith and its various transmissions in communities, parishes, groups, catechesis or others. The Christian experience is understood at this point as a “response” to the Word of God received by Revelation and “recovered” in the Tradition. This experience is “imposed” in practical (and pastoral) theology in a theological place where intelligence of the Christian faith occurs.
This discipline, as entitled in this course (pastoral and practical), covers two levels of thinking and research; the first “empirical” and the second “applied”. The empirical level is that of practical theology which proceeds to an analytical reading of how faith is experienced among the People of God (theology of practice). The “applied” level is that of the pastoral theology which seeks to find the best way to convey and accompany faith among the People of God. In their quests of meaning, both types of theology, pastoral and practical, refer to theological knowledge conferred by all other theological disciplines, as well as to many other disciplines related to human sciences and others.

The success of catechetical activity is linked to several factors and elements among which are pedagogy.
This course initiates the pastoral actor and researcher in how to adopt and adapt, in catechetical activity, the most recent and effective theories and techniques known in pedagogy.

Among the Greeks, nature is physical, all of which appear; hence the problem of natural, supernatural and supernatural. In Christian theology, nature is one; hence the problem of the two natures of Christ. In Latin, natura is "character", which poses the problem of nothing less than human nature. Medical sciences, natural bounds genetics. In law, it opposes the Civic. In literature, he opposes romanticism and classicism. Today, ecology seems to oppose nature and man; it is even about '' green policy '' as of 'ecological theology,' 'brief' 'ecological philosophy’.' Nature is everywhere, but the concept of nature he said the same thing everywhere is to say, in all areas? What is then "nature"? Will he kind or nature? A kind or nature? And why is his definition a hermeneutical problem? That's what our course of Philosophy of Nature will try to think.

This course enables students to acquire the basic concepts in psychology of religion and the thematic approach specific to the religious field.
It includes a theoretical aspect to identify the different approaches that have studied the religious phenomena. It also develops some aspects of the conscious and unconscious psychic functioning on individual and collective levels and highlights psychological aspects of normal and pathological religious behavior.
The second aspect is methodological, it involves the application of models and psychological instruments to interpret conducts or religious phenomena through studying and analyzing practical cases encountered in this area.

Men face difficult situations of their lives by their knowledge, by superstition or by religious behavior, or by a combination of these three elements. This course focuses on recognizing and distinguishing these elements.

The course presents the Christian theology of religions within a perspective of fundamental theology in dialogue with other theological disciplines (anthropological, Christological, Trinitarian, ecclesiological and practical). Teaching focuses on the development of theology from the Second Vatican Council and aims to introduce students to the extensive reading of the relevant main texts of the Magisterium.